The Campaign
by SammieL
Summary: Arthur Weasley is campaigning for Minister of Magic and has forbidden Harry and Hermione to help him.  An unexpected day leads to a way in.
1. Chapter 1

The corner booth of the Leaky Caldron was the ideal spot to wait without being seen. Covered in shadow and right by the entrance to muggle London, it was easily forgotten, even by Tom, who had built that booth himself. It was the perfect spot for a one red headed man who was trying to escape.

Percy Weasley rolled an empty butterbeer bottle between his large hands, and slowly peeled away the label, where it fell to the table. He was giving himself a pep talk.

"Come on. No one has looked over here for ages, no one is going to notice you sneak out that door and into freedom. It's only for a couple hours, no one is going to miss you, no one is going to follow you and ask what you're doing. Come on…" he muttered to himself.

He didn't know who first suggested that his father run for Minister of Magic, but he wanted to throttle them. Not that his father wouldn't be great, but it meant that his family had to be above reproach, and had to do things to support Arthur and make him look like the best candidate. He brothers and sister got a little bit of leeway; they were out making names for themselves, living exciting lives, being who they wanted to be. Percy was the responsible one. The one who was making a name for himself in the ministry, and was at his father's side at all the events, drumming up support, making people love their family. He didn't regret or resent it, exactly. He had always loved working for the ministry, and he loved the thrill of politics, but not being able to take a break from it all was exhausting. Even Percy couldn't be the perfect son all the time.

He glanced down at his outfit again, making sure he looked muggle enough to pass in the city. His black button down shirt was slightly too big because he had stolen it from Charlie. No, _borrowed _it from Charlie. He would clean it and put it back in his closet before he knew it was missing. He had rolled the sleeves and tucked it into his jeans, making it seem like it fit better than it did. His jeans were his own, so they fit properly and went all the way down to his black All-Star converse (another "borrow" from Charlie). Rooming with his brother was turning out to be very beneficial to Percy.

He sighed and thought of his family again. Charlie had come back to London to support his father during the campaign, and make the family image complete. All the Weasley children went to every event, and all went around schmoozing the crowd for support. Arthur didn't like it; he thought it was too much like cheating. Molly had finally put her foot down and told Arthur that his family supported him whether it "looked good" or not and he WAS going to bring them around and every Weasley was going to help him win this. He had looked sheepish during her lecture and had reluctantly agreed with her. He had absolutely refused when Harry and Hermione had tried to insist that they were honorary Weasleys too and wanted to campaign for him.

"I will not use you two at all! It is cheating to have to boy-who-lived and savior of the wizarding world campaigning for me! And Hermione, you are a war hero who deserves a rest from the spotlight! I will NOT abuse My and Molly's love for two to win this election! You will not in any way campaign for me or use your large influence to help me!" Arthur yelled. "This should be about issues and how I would be as a minister, NOT about who supports me!"

Harry and Hermione had argued well into the night, saying that Arthur would be the best minister and anything that helped him would be good for the community.

"You're like my own father now, Mr. Weasly," Harry pleaded. "Please let me help you."

Arthur had softened at this and quietly replied, "I'm honored that you think that. I've thought of you like a son for some time now, and I love you like you were my own. That's why I can't have you use your status as the one who saved us all from horrible darkness to help me. I can't and I won't have you do that. Not when you've done so much and sacrificed so much already."

Harry's eyes filled with tears as he embraced Arthur in a tight hug. "I don't agree with your decision, but I suppose I can live with it…" Harry let him go and went upstairs to the room he shared with Ron.

Hermione remained seated on the couch next to Molly, her brows furrowed in thought. "I think you're being naïve Arthur. I'll keep quiet for now, but I do support you, and I don't see any reason not to tell someone that, if I am asked."

Arthur sighed, "I suppose we can talk about this later, but for now, I'm grateful for your silence."

Percy also thought his father was being naïve. Harry and Hermione alone could make his father minister. They, along with Ron, were hailed as the saviors of the wizarding world. They were highly respected and loved by everyone, and his father had direct links to all three of them. John Mackern, his father's campaign director, almost had a heart attack when Arthur told him in no uncertain terms that Harry and Hermione were not to be brought into the campaign.

"But Arthur, think about what they would mean!" he cried.

"I know what I'm doing, John," Arthur snapped. "This is not up for discussion. If you can't handle that, then I will hire someone who can." He glared at John with a finality that stopped the man from saying what he was going to reply with.

He groaned. "Fine. But I think you're making a mistake."

"I might be, but it's my decision," Arthur stated.

Percy had been the only other person in the meeting, and coughed to cover up his laugh. His father would make a damn fine Minister of Magic.

His bottle fell to the table with a soft clank, surprising Percy out of his thoughts, and reminding him what he was doing in that booth.

"Well, it's now or never…" and with one last look, he got up from his booth and snuck into muggle London.

Obviously I don't own anything, the brilliant JKR does.

Please Read and Review! Thank you!


	2. Chapter 2

Percy repeated the directions to the pub he was going to in his head, as if he would move too suddenly and forget where he was going.

"Left…then a right at the next block…two stores down…" he kept repeating. It was his first time in muggle London by himself, he had only been there when going to Hogwarts, and once again for Bill's bachelor party. Percy still shuddered when he thought of it. It was Charlie, Bill, and a bunch of Bill's horribly loud curse-breaker friends, and Percy. They had ended up at a strip club, being entertained by a young lady named "Sugar" who made even Bill's friends blush. Percy had almost passed out with embarrassment, he'd wanted to run up and cover "Sugar" in his coat and ask her if her father knew she was doing this. In the end, the bachelor party was considered a huge success by everyone, except Percy, who woke up horribly hung-over and still blushing.

This evening was about getting out of the wizarding world, and especially getting away from all those reporters who followed him around, anxiously waiting for him to say something stupid. No, this evening was about being him. Sitting at a pub, having a beer and a burger. No worrying if the ketchup he just spilled on his tie would affect his father's polling, no worrying about his brothers teasing him for being a "wet noodle" (a muggle term that his father particularly loved), and especially no worrying that someone dragging him to something horrific, like a quidditch match.

He stopped abruptly, realizing that he was at his destination, The Ship and Shovell. He had heard his brothers Ron and Charlie talking about this place like they frequented it often. He hadn't even asked how they had heard about it.

The building was painted bright red, horribly small and looked absolutely perfect. Percy squeezed through the crowd of businessman, to sit at the bar. He couldn't help looking around at everything. He didn't quite understand his father's obsession with muggles, but sitting in a place like this, he could start to understand. In one corner was a man having a conversation with a small black object pressed up to his ear. Another was reading the paper, but it was no ordinary paper, because the pictures were not moving! At a nearby table, a man and a woman were having a heated discussion about something called "football" and a large tv in the corner was showing two men hit a small ball back and forth with modified beater bats. It was so intriguing that he hardly noticed when the barman asked what he wanted. He glanced up in surprise, realizing that butterbeer or fire whisky was not going to be offered.

"Umm, I'll take one of those," he pointed to one of the spouts near his hand.

"One stout coming up," replied the barman.

"And some fish and chips, please," Percy added belatedly.

The barman nodded and grunted in reply and went to work filling a glass. Percy hoped that meant he would get food soon, he was starving.

"I would never have thought in a million years that I'd see Percy Weasley at a muggle pub," stated a familiar voice.

He turned to see who the intruder of his peace was and came face to face with a grinning Hermione Granger.

"Hermione! What a pleasant surprise!" Percy exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"I should ask you the same thing! This is my favorite spot in London to go to, isn't that right, Alex?" She directed the last part of her sentence to the barman who was holding out two pints, one stout for Percy and a pale looking cider for Hermione.

Now I know how Ron and Charlie heard about, mused Percy. If it's Hermione's favorite place, she must have brought them along.

"One strongbow for you, Hermione," Alex laughed. "And we're making fish and chips for you right now."

"You are a lifesaver! But it's a bit crowded down here tonight. Can you bring our food to us upstairs?"

"No problem. It'll be ready soon," he replied.

"Wonderful! Come on Percy, you're not eating alone tonight!" She giggled, and proceeded to leave the bar with her cider clutched in her hand. Percy followed, unsure of where they were going. She exited the pub, walked across a small alley, and into the next building. It was another pub, decorated exactly like the Ship and Shovell, but just wasn't as crowded. Hermione nodded to the woman behind the bar and went up some narrow stairs, hidden behind the last table in the corner. Percy struggled up the stairs behind her, wary of his surroundings, and feeling very, very out of place. She stopped once she made it up the stairs and surveyed the room. It was packed with tables and chairs, but was completely deserted.

She turned to Percy. "Better grab a table quick before they're all full!" She laughed at Percy's confused face. "It was a joke, Perce! Come on, this one has the best view!"

She glided over to the table next to the window and sat down. Percy followed her lead and plopped down across from her. Looking outside the window, he could see a whole street filled with bookstores. There had to be six on that one block alone! He watched as muggles came out, laden with heavy bags, trudging along the street to the next, never seeming to be sated of their love of books. He looked up at Hermione.

"I can see why you think this is the best spot," he chuckled.

"Yes well, I've always liked Charing Cross Road," she smiled and sipped her cider.

They sat in silence watching the people down on the street. Suddenly Percy remembered something.

"You didn't order any food."

She laughed. "I didn't need to. I always get the fish and chips. They have the best I've ever had here."

"Ah." Percy sat back in his chair and looked at the witch across from him. It seemed like just yesterday Harry, Ron and Hermione had brought about the death of Voldemort, but in actuality it had been over two years ago. To be responsible for so much at such a young age had made her mature and grown up. Almost 20 with a world of possibilities ahead of her, and she seemed to be ready to take on all their possibilities. Her brown hair had smoothed out, making it more wavy and frizzy, and her eyes were full of mischief. She was relaxed in jeans and a bright green t-shirt with a WWW logo on it. Percy remembered when Fred and George had given her that shirt. It was wrapped in bright red paper and attached was a note that said "to our favorite bookworm. Get out and enjoy life once in a while." she had laughed at them and punched their arms for it, but loved the shirt.

Percy and Hermione had become decent friends, having their love of books, experiences as prefects, and hatred of quidditch to bring them together. Not that they were that close, but there was an understanding between them, a sort of nerd-pact that no one quite understood but them.

"So Perce, what in the world are you doing here?" she asked, bringing her attention to him.

He hesitated, unsure if he should tell her the truth. "Oh you know…just…you know," he grimaced.

"Just oh you know you know?" she repeated. "Riiiight. Now what's the real reason?"

He groaned and cradled his head in his hands. "It's just so hard! I feel like I have to be the perfect son, supporting my dad 100% and never letting my guard down, I've had 20 meetings this past week and only 5 were for my department! The rest were campaigning for my dad! I've given so many interviews that I know all the reporters at the Daily Prophet and Quibbler by name. I never get to have any fun. The most fun I have is on Sunday brunches, but most of the time we just talk about the campaign or what my siblings are doing because what they're doing is so much more interesting than what I am doing! All I want to do is put my feet up and do something stupid, which is so strange because I've never wanted to do something stupid in my life, but I feel so caged in right now! So I decided to come into muggle London to escape and get away from it all."

Hermione sat quietly as his rant came to an end. "Feel better?"

"No," he muttered.

She laughed. "Well, you're in luck Percy. I will be your tour guide to the city tonight. Let's get some food and then have some fun!"

He looked up at her with hope in his eyes. "Really?"

"Yes! You look awful Percy. I can't believe I didn't see it before, but you look like crap. Let's have some fun where no one cares who we are or what we think. You could definitely use a mini vacation. Actually, you look like you could use a long vacation, but let's start with tonight, ok?"

He smiled, "that sounds lovely."

They kept talking and relaxing, pausing only to thank Alex for their meal when he brought it up. As soon as they finished, Hermione tossed a few pounds on the table to cover the tab, and grabbed Percy's hand.

"I could've paid! If you'd given me a minute to figure out this damn money…" Percy grumbled.

"I know, but I didn't fancy staying there for another hour while you figured it out!"

"Ha. Ha. Ha."

She smiled and let go of his hand as soon as they started down the stairs.

"Now where are you taking me?" He asked.

"Somewhere only we would find fun."

Again, I own nothing, it's all JKR.

Please read and review! Thank you!


	3. Chapter 3

It was a gorgeous London day, and the two friends were walking across a small park near Russell Square station. They laughed at the toilets that were sitting on the street corner and Percy was asking her how streetlights knew when to change, and how did those double-decker busses work? She would laugh at his questions and answered them as best she could, trying to give the reason why they were invented as well as how they worked.

"There is a sensor in the ground that tells the streetlight when there is a car waiting, and a traffic controller also monitors all the intersections remotely to make sure traffic is running smoothly. Those busses are just like normal cars, except you can sit on the second floor or the first floor. They carry around a lot of people at one time because muggles (obviously) can't apparate."

"Can we go on one?" Percy pleaded.

"Maybe some other time. I don't want to deal with getting you an oyster card just yet."

"A what card?"

"Never mind. We're here!" she grinned as Percy looked through an iron gate to the British Museum.

"Brilliant," he breathed. "Is it true that this is all muggle artifacts? No wizard ones at all?"

"Yes. The ministry checks in every week with the curator to make sure that no wizarding history gets snuck in. We don't want another Shakespeare debacle."

"Oh yes," He nodded. "I remember learning about that. They tried to wipe everyone's memories of him and his plays, but they just confused everyone into thinking that he might have been a…pen name? Is that what it's called?"

"Yes. Now with all the conspiracy theories, the ministry decided to leave it be. His works are so integrated into our history that they can't erase him completely from muggle history. They did manage to keep Cardenio out of muggle hands. Can you imagine if the history of our first wizard minister was performed for them? Ugh. Too many questions would be asked…" she stopped when she realized that Percy had gone on ahead of her and wasn't listening anymore.

The museum was spectacular, and they spent quite a few hours wandering around, discovering muggle history. As they exited, Percy pulled her into a surprising hug, thanking her for the day.

"We're not done yet, Mr. Weasley!" She laughed. They had dinner at a small Italian place just minutes from the muesum. Percy kept talking about how ingenious muggles were to get along without magic. He was so loud that Hermione had to reach over the table and cover his mouth with her hand to get him to quiet down.

"What did you do _that _for?" he asked indignantly.

"I did it for your own good and you know it!" She said, sternly, trying to keep a straight face. "You're so loud and obnoxious when you get excited. I finally see the Weasley in you."

"Hey, just because I'm not as exuberant as my siblings, doesn't mean I'm boring!" he retorted.

"I know that, silly. I was just joking," she laughed at his little tantrum. "Even nerds have _some _fun."

"Takes one to know one," he responded childishly.

She laughed loudly at that.

Their final stop of the day was the British Library.

"A library, Hermione, really?" he teased. "There are quite a few of these in the ministry alone. I don't think we need to go in here"

"Yeah yeah yeah," she laughed. "Just trust me on this one…"

He followed her past the large statue of Isaac Newton and into the building. He started to go upstairs into the main part of the library, but she grabbed his arm and steered him into a hallway to the left.

"Trust me, Percy. This is awesome!"

He looked at the dark hallway disapprovingly, but followed her into a cool, dark room. He looked around curiously at the glassed in and expertly lit displays or what looked like papers and books and drawings. He drifted past a few before stopping in front of a small book, his mouth hanging open.

"This is Leonardo da Vinci's notebook!" he exclaimed.

"I'm rather fond of that one, too," she smiled. They continued to walk around the room, looking at the Magna Carta; Original handwritten musical compositions by Handel, Beethoven, and Mozart; Lewis Carroll's diary; an early 11th century version of Beowulf; and many more.

They were there so long that the library closed and the librarians kicked them out.

"I hope you had fun today," Hermione said. "I can never find anyone to go to muggle things with me, so I usually go alone. It was nice to have some company, and one to nerd out with me while doing it."

Percy smiled warmly. "I had a blast. I don't know how to thank you for today. I know it's not much, but how about a nightcap at my place? I don't know about you, but I am dying for a fire whiskey right now."

Hermione laughed. "I am too. Spending time in London reminds me of how much I love being a witch!"

They walked to a nearby alley and apparated to Percy's flat.

…...

I own nothing, it's all JKR

I based most of this chapter on my own experiences in London. The nerd in me loved all the museums. The Ship and Shovell is a real pub, but I never got to go. I'll put it on my list of things to do next time I go.

Please read and review! Thank you!


	4. Chapter 4

They apparated outside his building, and walked in together. Percy held the door open for Hermione, bowling slightly with a silly grin on his face.

"My lady," he smirked.

"Oh, my hero!" she laughed.

He led her to his flat, making his way upstairs to the third floor.

"I wonder if Charlie is in tonight," he mused.

"I forgot you were living together. How is he? Missing Romania?"

"He's doing alright. It's nice living with someone again, it was getting lonely by myself to be honest with you. The only bad thing about having him around is how he never shuts up about Cindy and how he misses her."

"Cindy?" Hermione asked. "Is that his new girlfriend?"

"I wish. It would make listening to his stories more interesting. No, Cindy is a Norwegian Ridgeback that he nursed back to health and now follows him around the reserve like a puppy," Percy laughed to himself. "Charlie claims that telling stories about Cindy gets him laid, but I don't understand why…"

"I understand!" Hermione smiled. "That is so sweet!"

"Oh for goodness sake, not you too!" Percy rolled his eyes. "I swear he has a different girl over every weekend. How the press hasn't gotten a hold of that information still baffles me."

Hermione laughed. "Don't worry, Perce. I'm not going to fawn over him, I just see the appeal of a handsome man caring enough to nurse a sick animal back to health. It's hot."

"I once nursed Scabbers back to health when he got really sick from eating too much chocolate. Does that make you want to jump me?" Percy teased.

"Hardly," she responded dryly. "But I know that Scabbers was really a creepy man who hid with your family to avoid getting sent to Azkaban. It's not as cute when you think about it that way."

Percy sighed dramatically. "I guess I just don't have the charm that my older brothers have."

"Nope!" she laughed at his crestfallen face.

"Hmph!" Percy unlocked and opened the door to his flat, smiling as they went in. "Make yourself at home, I'll grab the booze!"

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Hermione set down her purse and coat and walk around the living room. It was pretty small, which was expected of a flat right inside Diagon Alley. The coffee table had the past week's Daily Prophet folded neatly on top, and a book titled "A Minister's Life" by Cornelius Fudge was sitting next to the papers, a few bits of parchment bookmarking important passages in the text. There was another book, perched precariously on the armrest of a large green recliner, titled "Life Among the Dragons." He heard Hermione chuckle, most likely at the difference between Percy and Charlie. Percy was meticulous and very, very neat, while Charlie was…not. Percy spotted a dirty pair of hiking boots tossed under the coffee table, and inwardly groaned. Couldn't Charlie put anything away? Percy's shoes were paired neatly on the rug by the door, where they _belonged_. Hopefully Hermione would see that all the messes in the flat belonged to Charlie.

She eyed the bookshelves that covered all the walls in the living room. He'd put up so many that it felt like a library to most people, but Percy liked being surrounded by books. He didn't only have books on the shelves, and he saw her look at the family photos, framed newspaper clippings of Harry, Ron and Hermione in their defeat of Voldemort, and other memories. On one bookshelf was a colorful box that she started to reach for, when she dropped her hand suddenly. Percy remembered how she always liked knowing what was in closed boxes, and smiled.

He came in to the living room with two glasses of fire whiskey and saw that she was staring at a tiny broomstick that was floating slightly over the shelf it was on.

"Mum and Dad gave me that before they realized I would never be as athletic as my siblings," he said, causing Hermione to just lightly. "They thought I would love zooming my toys around my room on that broomstick. I preferred reading to anything else by that point, and I think they were a bit disappointed."

"I'm sure they weren't..." she started.

"Oh they were," he interrupted. "Not anymore, though. They're rather proud of me at the moment."

She smiled and took the glass he was offering her. "Cheers. Thanks."

They clinked glasses and sipped in silence, moving to sit on the couch.

Hermione furrowed her brow in thought as she drank.

"I know that look. I can basically see your mind working. What's got you distracted? Percy questioned.

"I've hit a bit of a brick wall. I've been trying for weeks to convince your dad to let Harry and I campaign for him, but he still says no."

Percy sighed. "I have to admit that I think he's being naïve in this instance. You and Harry care a great deal for him and our family. I don't see why he's restricting your access to his campaign. He's slowly working his way up in the polls, but too many people see him as an out-of-touch muggle lover who doesn't have the proper grip on reality that a minister needs. We're working on that, of course, but having meetings with the people who brought down Voldemort sure wouldn't hurt right now."

"I know! I keep trying to sneak into events, or donate money under my own name, but he keeps foiling me every time! I didn't think he was that serious about this."

"He's a good man. He sees it as cheating. Gaining popularity by name-dropping and having lunch with important people won't let him be who he wants to be. Well, that's his opinion anyways" Percy thought to himself as he drained the last of his fire whiskey and yawned. He looked at Hermione to tell her he was going to get his floo ready to send her home when he realized that she was fast asleep on his couch, still clutching her empty glass.

He smiled at her, "I guess you can sleep here tonight…" He pried her glass out of her hand, gently pushed her shoulders back and lifted her legs so that she was lying down on the sofa, and covered her with a blanket.

"I'll make sure she's awake in time to go to brunch in the morning, I guess," He mused, as he walked to his room and fell asleep himself.

Percy woke at his usual 5 am and groaned. He always woke up at 5 whether he wanted to or not. It was useless to go back to sleep, that he knew for certain, so he opted for some breakfast instead. He peered in the living room to make sure Hermione was still asleep, when he stopped.

"Bloody hell!" he whispered. Hermione was still on the couch, but on her side, and the blanket had fallen off her body to reveal her in just a shirt and underwear. "Where did her jeans go?" He wondered. His mouth had gone dry as he stared at her. She was wearing bright pink boy shorts with little white polka dots. They were barely covering a firm bottom that attached to milky white legs that seemed to never end.

She stirred and moaned loudly, jarring Percy out of his thoughts, but doing nothing for his heart, which started to pound. He turned and practically sprinted back to his room, deciding that pretending he'd never saw that would be the best option.

When he heard her pad softly to the bathroom, and he decided to come out. He went into the kitchen and tried to get his heart rate back to normal. "When did Hermione get hot?" he thought. Then froze. "I did NOT just say that I found Hermione, my brother's ex-girlfriend and my friend, hot!" He was still lost in thought when she appeared in front of him. She was wearing pants again (thank goodness, he thought) and looking at him with a small smile on her face.

"What in the world are you doing up this early?" She asked.

"This is when my stupid internal clock wakes me up," he sighed. "It's rather annoying."

She laughed. "Well, want to go out to get some food? My treat."

"I'd love to, but it's my treat. You paid for almost everything yesterday!"

"It's not my fault that you couldn't figure out what a one pound note looked like!" She laughed and went to get her shoes on.

Percy got dressed back in his room and emerged wearing jeans and a blue polo. He still wasn't used to dressing so casually, but his brothers mocked him for being so formal all the time, and he finally got sick of it. He had purchased his first pair of jeans only one month ago.

They walked out of his building and towards the coffee shop just down the block. Percy believed it was the best coffee in all of Britain.

"So, I woke up in the middle of the night and thought I was back in my own apartment!" Hermione laughed. "I couldn't figure out why I was sleeping on my own couch, but I was too comfy to move so I went back to sleep."

Ah, Percy thought. She must have removed her pants because she thought she was home. He blushed slightly at the memory of her.

"Well, I'm glad my couch was comfy," he replied. "You kinda fell asleep in the middle of our conversation!"

"Oh no!" She moaned. "I'm so sorry!"

He laughed at her. "Don't worry about it! I was just about to kick you out and go to bed myself when you started snoring. I couldn't wake you then. It wouldn't be gentlemanly."

She snorted and they fell into an easy silence.

It was always like this with Hermione, Percy mused. It was easy and friendly. He didn't have to hid how nerdy he actually was, and he didn't ever feel uncomfortable. He supposed that if things were different and if she'd never dated Ron, that Percy might have asked her on a date. Oh well, he sighed to himself. He could never do that to his brother. There's some unwritten rule that you can't date your brother's ex, though at that exact moment he couldn't remember why.

They had coffee and croissants together, then went their separate ways.

"I've got to shower before I go to brunch!" Hermione said.

"I'd been meaning to suggest that…" he teased. She hit him lightly in the shoulder, then gave him a hug.

"See you in a bit," she waved and apparated away.

…...

I don't own anything, it's all JKR.

I hope you're enjoying it. I have a couple more chapters finished, but every time I read them I keep tweaking them. I'll probably post some more today.


	5. Chapter 5

Sunday brunch at the Weasley's was tradition. No matter how busy people got, EVERYONE was at brunch. It wasn't long before Harry and Hermione were expected there every week as well, being "members-of-the-family-sort-of." Percy apparated just outside the Burrow and walked in the front door.

"Oh good, you're here," his mother greeted him and grabbed his coat. "Go into the living room, your father and I need to talk to you."

Percy looked around.

"Am I the first one here?" he asked.

"Actually, Hermione was the first, but we need to talk to you two," Molly gave him a stern look and shoved him into the living room. He stumbled in and grabbed a chair to steady himself.

"Rough night, Perce?" He looked up at Hermione who was trying to stifle her laugh.

"Ha. Ha," he sneered. "I'm not answering that."

Hermione turned her attention to the Weasley matron, "What did you need to talk to us about Molly?"

"Well, I know that you are both adults and mature about things, and I'm sure it's not true, but can you tell me why the paper says you two are dating?" Molly looked at them expectantly.

"What?" they both cried.

She held out the Daily Prophet for them to read. They were the front page story.

"War Hero finds love!

"Hermione Granger, the witch who helped Harry Potter defeat You-Know-Who was seen yesterday in muggle London with none other than Percy Weasley, the son of hopeful Minister of Magic Arthur Weasley. They were seen having a cozy lunch at the Ship and Shovell, a favorite pub of Ms. Granger's, and wandering around the city looking very cozy together."

It went on to talk about their individual history as prominent leaders in wizarding society, and the article had three large photos accompanying it. One was through the window of the Ship and Shovell, were they were looking at each other and laughing; one was of Percy opening the door to his apartment complex that night; and the last one was of them coming out this morning for coffee. It was noted that she was wearing the same clothes as the night before. The article went on:

"We're not sure when this relationship started, but one thing's for sure, Arthur Weasley's polling is going to look much better with Hermione Granger in his camp."

Hermione and Percy looked up from the article, both blushing.

"I can totally explain this mom, it's not what it looks like…" Percy started before Hermione interrupted him.

"We're dating!" she cried.

Percy froze and stared at her. "Excuse me?"

She smiled a nervous smile at him and grabbed his arm. "I know we weren't going to tell anyone for a while, but since the cat's out of the bag, there's no harm in letting it be known!"

"Oh, wonderful!" Molly cried embracing Hermione. "I'm so happy for you! I was worried that the press were making things up, but hoping all along that it was true! You both deserve happiness!" She was practically crying with excitement.

Percy still couldn't form words. What was going on? They weren't dating! He opened his mouth to tell the truth when Hermione interrupted him again.

"Percy, why don't we talk about this upstairs? It's so exciting," she explained to Molly and Arthur, "But I want to make sure he's ok with us telling everyone!" She beamed at them and unceremoniously dragged Percy upstairs. After she found an empty room, she closed the door and looked at him.

"What the heck is going on?" he cried. "Why did you tell them that?"

She looked guiltily at him. "Now hear me out, Perce. Your dad doesn't want me to be campaigning for him, but if I'm dating you he won't be able to keep me out! I'll be your date to everything, boost his numbers and get him elected! It won't be that bad, I mean, we're already friends, we'll just get to spend more time together and hold hands or something to make it look real." She stared at him, eyes full of hope, and chewing gently on her bottom lip in anticipation.

"But we can't lie," he started. "That's so wrong and if the press finds out about this then my dad is going to be in big trouble…"

"So we don't tell anyone. ANYONE. If it gets too weird we can always 'break up' and no one will know the difference. We'll end things right after he gets elected anyways," she grabbed his hands and looked into his eyes. "Please, Perce? I've wanted to help your dad for so long, I owe him and your mom and your family everything. You're like my family now. It's been killing me to stay away from this."

He stared into her brown eyes and knew that even though it was a horrific mistake, he was going to do it. She was too sweet and kind for him not to. And it wouldn't be so bad, he reasoned. He'd get to spend a lot of time with a beautiful woman, and help his dad in the process. Plus, he couldn't deny her anything when she was looking at him like that.

He let out a defeated sigh, "Fine. Let's do it."

She squealed with joy and wrapped her arms around him in a huge hug.

"Thank you so much! You're the best! Oh my gosh, this is great!" She grinned at him. In the middle of the hug she stiffened, "someone's coming!" and without any warning, she grabbed his head and pulled him down for a searing kiss.

Percy had never been kissed like this. His lips responded to hers automatically, and his arms tightened around her waist to try to bring her closer. She moaned into his mouth and he felt it all the way down to his toes. Her arms were moving up and down his back, making his stomach flip repeatedly. He never wanted it to end.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry, I just wanted to tell you that everyone else is here…" a shocked Ginny was staring at them. They broke apart quickly. Percy thought his face was going to burn off he was blushing so hard, and he found that he'd lost the power of speech.

"Ginny! You startled us!" Hermione covered for him. "We'll…uh…be right down."

Ginny looked at them strangely, turned slowly and walked out, shutting the door behind her. She left two confused people who were breathing very heavily behind her.

…...

I own nothing, it's all JKR.

Please read and review! Thank you!


	6. Chapter 6

They stood in the deserted room for a few moments, staring into each others eyes. Their breathing calmed, and without knowing what else to say, Percy reached for Hermione's hand and let her out of the room.

"Time to make our grand entrance, eh?" He tried smiling, but it came out as more of a grimace. His face was still burning, he was mortified that he'd lost himself so completely in that kiss. He was afraid that Hermione could tell how much he cared for her in just that one moment. He didn't know how to act around her now. She smiled, reassuring him, and walked down the stairs.

"Hey you two! Where have you been? We've been waiting to eat!" Ron rushed over and gave Hermione a hug, briefly separating her hand from Percy's. As soon as he was done, they clasped hands together.

"It's good to see you too, Ron. Now, before dinner, we need to make an announcement," she waited until she had everyone's attention. "Percy and I have been seeing each other for a few weeks, but kept it quiet for our own reasons. Now, obviously, there's no reason to deny it." She hesitated, unsure of what else to say or how to make sure everyone believed it.

Percy took over, "She means the world to me, and I think I mean something to her, so keep your snide comments to yourself (George), and support us." He smiled at her and put his arm around her shoulders, which Hermione leaned into.

He had been looking around the room as they made their announcement, and almost laughed at how everyone was looking. Ginny was standing in the far corner, still blushing, no doubt, from catching them earlier. Harry was near her and had a look of pure surprise on his face, along with a smile. George was grinning mischievously and as Percy watched, he elbowed Charlie and whispered something in his ear. Charlie reluctantly handed over a few Galleons. After his pockets were empty, Charlie looked over at Percy with a confused look on his face. Molly looked like Christmas had come early. She was beaming at them, with her hands clasped together. Arthur looked happy, but a bit troubled too, as if he could see Hermione's plot.

The one family member that Percy was worried about was Ron. Ron was not looking happy. He was frowning, almost glaring, but not quite. Percy remembered when Ron and Hermione had broken up a year ago. Ron was sitting on the sofa alone, staring into the fire with an empty glass in his hands. Percy knew something was wrong right away.

"Ron? What are you doing?" He asked.

"I'm drinking," he relied.

Percy found an empty bottle of fire whiskey on the floor. "For goodness sake, Ron! Did you drink all this by yourself?"

"She doesn't love me anymore."

"What?"

"Hermione. She told me we were better as friends. She said that she loved me, but wasn't in love with me anymore. Maybe never was." He looked into his empty glass, as if wondering why it was empty.

"That sucks," Percy sat down next to him.

Ron stopped moving and sighed.

Percy hesitated, "Do you still love her?"

Ron growled, "That's the most irritating thing! I don't! She's completely right again! She never does anything wrong, she knows everything, and I'm left alone. I don't love her anymore, not like that anyways. But I deserve time to grieve the loss of my relationship anyways!"

"Of course you do," Percy stated. "Just don't grieve too long, ok? This is for the best, I guess."

He hadn't really thought about that night until now, when he was looking at Ron, silently asking for permission to fake-date Hermione.

Ron walked up to them and put his arms around their shoulders. "You know you can do better than this bloke, don't you?" He joked. Percy and Hermione breathed sighs of relief and laughed with him.

Sunday brunch was practically a religion to the Weasleys. The only family members allowed to be absent were Bill and Fleur, and that's only because they were in France, both teaching at Beauxbatons. Even though it was important that the busy family get together once a week, there was no real structure to it. They all just came and ate as much as they could, which for the Weasley boys and Harry was a staggering amount of food.

Percy found himself situated between Charlie and George, across from Hermione. He sighed in frustration. He was going to get humiliated during this meal, he just knew it.

Sure enough, before long Charlie leaned towards Percy and whispered, "You know she can stay over more often if you'd like. I mean, we all saw the photos in the Prophet, you don't have to sneak her in and out when I'm not home."

Percy instantly turned a deep shade of red and sputtered "That's not! I mean…she took the couch…I'd never…!"

Charlie chuckled, "Hey, don't worry about it. If she's staying over after just a couple weeks, that's a good sign! I'm looking forward to seeing her more often."

Percy was trying to figure out how to correct Charlie when he heard his mother and Hermione talking about the same thing.

"You know, dear, this is the modern age, and I think it's lovely that you and Percy are spending nights together," Molly was saying.

Hermione's eyes were getting rather large as she listened, but not knowing what else to say, she went with it. "He's so nice, letting me stay sometimes. I'm really crazy about him."

Percy wanted to get up and run from the table, to avoid any more questions about his non existent sex-life, knowing that the next thing Charlie was going to say was going to be something mortifying.

"It's been a while, eh Perce? You've pretty much been single since Penny?"

Of course Hermione would turn her attention to their conversation in time to hear that bit of information. She raised her eyebrows in surprise, though thankfully she said nothing. Percy could practically see the math being done in her head. He wanted to scream "Yes, it's been two years since my last real relationship and shag! I've been working a lot! Leave me alone!" But he remained rooted to the spot, desperately waiting for the topic to change.

George chimed in, "He was pretty much broken after dear old Penny" he sneered as he said her name. "She was carrying on behind his back with his best friend, you know. What a trollop!"

"He's been pretty mopey since then. Always working and barely making it to brunch with us, his favorite people in the world!" Charlie smiled. "Good thing he found you or else I'd think he'd married his job. It can't be all that exciting in the misuse of magic department."

Seeing his discomfort, Hermione grabbed his hand from across the table and gave it a friendly squeeze. He looked up at her and felt his heart leap again. He was going to need to get that under control, he couldn't start having feelings for her when they weren't really dating. He knew he was doomed in that department already, though. There was almost nothing wrong with the witch sitting in front of him, and if she continued to kiss him like she did upstairs, his self control was going to go right out the window.

"Perce and I went into muggle London yesterday together.." Hermione started, effectively changing the conversation from Percy's lack of love life. The whole table wanted to know what they did, and how it was. They launched into the story like a well-oiled machine. She was finishing his sentences, he was laughing before she got to the funny part of a story. They didn't know how it happened, but they seemed to be excellent at being in a fake relationship with each other.

After dinner everyone moved into the living room again, sitting and laughing together. Harry and Ginny were in a corner, they both had big, stupid grins on their faces and Percy wondered for the millionth time if they were ever going to start dating. Everyone except Harry and the ever oblivious Ron had known about her feelings for years. None of the family knew if Harry liked Ginny back, and Percy made a mental note to ask Hermione later.

George was a bit subdued this evening. He was only setting off indoor fireworks with Ron. Percy was rather impressed with them, in spite of his low opinion of pranks. The fireworks were completely silent, and were guaranteed to not set anything on fire. It had taken a while to figure out the formula, and the singeing of poor Ron's eyebrows a few times before he and George had gotten the charms just right. No one had thought that Ron would end up working with George at Weasley Wizard Wheezes, but he was really good at it. He had single handedly invented a tie that would change colors based on what you were feeling, and tea that could change flavor with each sip. Percy especially liked that last one.

Charlie was talking Hermione's ear off, and if Percy didn't know any better, he was telling her all about Cindy. He walked closer to see that he was correct.

"She's just so sweet. She's only bitten me twice, and burned my hand three times! She even protects me from other hostile dragons. She once went up against a fully grown Chinese Fireball to keep me safe! The Fireball had me in his sights and I was trying to decide whether I should apparate or caste a protection charm when Cindy ran over and roared at him! She's not even half his size, and she roared at him! I was panicking, thinking how I wouldn't be able to save me _and _her when the Fireball snorted and walked away. That's the day she started following me around. I guess she didn't trust me to get out of scrapes on my own."

"I can see why!" Hermione laughed. Looking up at Percy she said "I see what you mean about his obsession with Cindy. But I was wrong, I can't resist. I think we need to break up so I can be with this amazing man who saves dragons!" she couldn't keep from laughing as she said that last part.

Percy sighed dramatically, "I suppose I am no match for such a man. Go, I give you leave to break my heart and follow yours." He put his hand over his heart, "But know this, fair maiden, when he leaves you for another, I shall not be waiting for you. I will not allow you to injure me so again." He kept a straight face for his whole act, but when Hermione started to giggle, he lost it, giving into a long, loud laugh.

…...

I (still) own nothing, it's all JKR.

This is sort of how my family get togethers work. We all eat a meal and then break off into smaller groups to catch up.

Please read and review! Thank you!


	7. Chapter 7

As everyone was saying their goodbyes, Charlie made his way over to Percy and Hermione. "You can stay the night any time you want, just be sure to cast silencing charms and lock the door, ok?" He didn't wait for an answer before apparating away.

She flushed and turned away from Percy. He felt his body temperature rise at the mere thought of being with her that way. Not that he would ever get to do that with her, but he was having a hard time reigning in his imagination.

They hugged his mom and dad, Hermione promised to have lunch with Harry and Ron the next day, and the two fake lovebirds walked outside together.

Percy glanced over to Hermione. "I suppose this is goodnight?"

"Well, everyone is expecting us to sleep together. I suppose I'll have to stay at your place tonight," she looked at him.

He choked and started coughing. "Excuse me?"

She realized her mistake, "Oh goodness! Not actually sleep together! I'd just stay at your flat and everyone can make assumptions, you know?" She blushed.

"Oh, well, that's alright, I suppose…" Percy was wondering, not for the first time what in the world he'd gotten himself into.

They apparated back to his flat, to find Charlie in the kitchen, eating ice cream.

"Charlie! You just ate!" Hermione scolded.

He shrugged sheepishly, "I'm still hungry."

She sighed and laughed. "Well, have a good night. We're going to bed." She left the kitchen, and when she realized that Percy wasn't following her, she came back, grabbed his hand and led him back to his room.

Percy was freaking out. There was the woman he had a crush on, leading him to a bedroom, where his brother thought they were going to make sweet love all night long. He just hoped he could keep all his body parts behaving themselves.

"Do you have a shirt I could borrow or something?"

He nodded and handed her one from his closet. Not wanting to see her underwear in such a circumstance again, he also grabbed a clean pair of boxers and handed them to her. She thanked him and went into the adjoining bathroom to change. He took the opportunity to change as well, but he only had an old pair of red plaid pajama pants ready, he never wore a shirt to bed. He was standing, half naked in front of his closet deciding what shirt to put on when he heard a squeak from the restroom. He turned and saw Hermione looking at the wall, her eyes wide and her face red.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes, I just, um…you're not wearing as much clothing as you were before…" she stuttered.

He looked down at his bare chest. "Oops. I don't usually wear a shirt to bed, so I was trying to find one when you came in.

She hesitated, but finally looked at him, "well, if you never wear one, there's no reason to change that tonight. You just startled me."

He nodded and watched as she crawled into his bed, laying on the very edge of the bed.

"Is this ok? I don't want to be on the couch and have Charlie asking questions.."

He nodded again. "Of course. Just keep your hands to yourself," he teased and she laughed.

He crawled in next to her, huddled on the opposite end of his bed, turned out the light, and fell asleep almost instantly.

He woke up to his blaring alarm clock. He tried to roll over to turn it off when he found a large, warm body practically straddling him. He reached as far as he could and hit the off button, while trying desperately to remember where the large poof of hair that was attacking his face came from. It hit him all at once.

Hermione.

She stirred, awoken by the alarm clock. And froze. "Oh dear," she whispered, looking at their predicament. She opened her mouth, most likely to apologize, but Percy stopped her.

"Don't worry about it, you can't control what happens when you sleep," he reassured her.

She slowly pried her arms from his middle, and untangled her legs from his. She stretched and yawned, wiping the sleep from her eyes. Percy took that opportunity to pull the blankets up around him, making sure to cover his morning arousal. He was incredibly turned on by waking up to Hermione cuddling him, and he needed a minute to calm down.

"You go ahead and take the first shower, I know you have to go to work today, too," he offered.

She lit up. "Thanks, Perce!" She wrapped her arms around him in a quick hug and disappeared into the bathroom.

He fell back into bed and tried to think of anything but a naked Hermione in his bathroom. He finally just went out to get some breakfast, hoping that distance would help him gain some control of his body.

He looked up from his paper when she walked into the kitchen. She was in the same pants as the day before, but was in a shirt of Percy's.

"I hope it's alright, I poached a shirt from your closet," she said.

"No worries, you look much better in it than I do," he replied without thinking.

She stopped and looked at him. "Thanks, Percy."

He was about to apologize when he realized that he meant it, and wasn't particularly sorry for saying it.

"Um, next week is a benefit ball for St. Mungos. Dad will be there, drumming up support, and I was wondering if you'd like to be my official date," Percy looked anxiously at her.

"Of course!" she exclaimed. "I'd love to go with you." She thought for a moment. "Oh dear, that means I'll have to go dress shopping and make sure I wear something awesome! So many reporters to impress!" She got lost in her thoughts.

"I was hoping you'd say yes," he teased. "Well, I have to get ready for work, I'll be sure to talk to you later this week and definitely see you next Friday for the ball."

"Sounds lovely. I have to run in to the office this morning to get things organized, but as of this afternoon I have this week off, so I'll be sure to spontaneously bring you lunch and things like that to keep up appearances."

He smiled at the possibilities. "I'll see you later, then." He leaned over and gave her a hug, relishing the feeling of her arms on his bare back. She tilted her head up to give him a kiss on the cheek, but he moved his head at the last moment, and their lips met instead.

He leaned into her and pulled her closer. She moved her hands to the back of his head, kneading her hands into his hair. He moaned with pleasure, and his hands began to navigate her body all on their own. First they were on her back, then waist, then her face, all the while trying to get her to melt into him. They stayed like that for a moment before Percy caught himself and pulled away abruptly. He was staring into her eyes, wondering what was going on when he noticed the blush that was forming on her cheeks.

"Um, I need to go," she breathed.

"Yeah…I have…um, um…" he stuttered.

"Work?" she suggested helpfully.

"Yes. That," he paused. "I'll see you later, then."

"Yes. Later," she said distractedly.

She grabbed her bag from the kitchen table, and with a small smile, apparated away.

Percy unceremoniously flopped into a kitchen chair, his heart racing, as he tried to analyze what had just happened. He prided himself on being in control of everything he did, but when he was with Hermione all his self-control went right out the window. He'd never felt this carnal need before, not even with Penny. Especially not with Penny. Everything they'd ever done was polite. Even the sex was polite and considerate. There had never really been much passion on either side to be honest. But when he so much as looked at Hermione his blood started to pound and he felt this need to push her against the nearest wall and ravage her.

He wondered if he was only attracted to her physically, but dismissed that immediately. He enjoyed her company, too. She was smart and a bit nerdy, which was perfect for him, but she made him laugh, too. How had he gotten in so deep with her so soon? His feelings must have been there for longer than these past two days, but it took those damn kisses to make him realize that.

He sighed and headed for the shower. There was no way that she felt anything for him. She _might _like kissing him, but that didn't really mean anything in the long run. He wanted a real relationship with her, and she just wanted to do something to help his father. It was going to be a long few months for Percy.

…...

Everything still belongs to JKR, I'm just messing around.

Thank you for reading and reviewing! I love hearing what you think about it!


	8. Chapter 8

Percy sat in his office, going over paperwork that three days ago wouldn't have bored him, but now he couldn't keep focused on anything. He stood up and paced around his the room. It was small, just enough room for a desk, chair and half bookshelf. He had tried decorating it as best he could, but the few family photos he put up did little the offset the drab white walls and brown carpet.

His head shot up at the sound of his door being opened.

"Hey Perce, I have got to talk to you!" It was John, his father's campaign manager. "Is this article true in the Prophet? Are you really dating Hermione Granger?" His eyes was shining and he did nothing to hide the huge grin on his face.

"Yes," Percy answered. "She's my girlfriend. Don't worry, she wants to help dad, too, and I already asked her to the St. Mungo's ball next week."

"Splendid!" he cried. "Just bloody brilliant! I'll make sure the rest of the papers know. Oh this is going to be wonderful!" John all but skipped out of the office, he was so excited.

Percy shook his head as he watched him go. He knew John would be excited for the support and power that Hermione's name gave the campaign. He tried to remember how his father took the news last night. If anyone would get suspicious, it would be his dad.

He stopped and sighed. His stomach growled loudly, and realizing it was well past lunchtime, he set out for some food.

He was sitting in the back corner of The Leaky Caldron again, eating a sandwich and drinking a butterbeer when he heard a voice that caught his attention.

"Ron! Will you stop asking me! I'm happy with Percy! You'd think that I was lying to you all the way you're questioning me," Hermione's less than dulcet tones rang out.

"Come on Hermione, you can't get mad at Ron. We knew you had a crush on Perce when we were at Hogwarts together, but you didn't tell us anything about now! We're just looking out for you!" Harry reasoned.

"I don't care. You should trust me," she pouted.

"We do! It's just," Ron hesitated. "We know you've been dying to campaign for dad, and this is the perfect way to get around his whole 'no Harry or Hermione' rule."

"I am shocked that you think I would do this for your dad! I mean, yeah, it's nice to be able to show my support, but you think I'd lie to do it?" Hermione said angrily. "Yes I had a crush on Perce when we were in Hogwarts, but the timing never worked out. Now it is working out and I'm happy with him! He's so sweet and kind and he's almost smarter than me!" Percy heard the smirk in her voice. "Now drop it." she added seriously.

"Okay, Hermione," Harry reluctantly said.

"Okay Hermione," Ron echoed.

Percy almost laughed out loud at how well she'd handled their questions. She had deflected all of them gracefully and firmly. He couldn't help but wonder if she really had liked him while they were at school together. Maybe if she used to like him, she could again. He mulled that thought over for longer than was necessary.

"Now that we've gotten _that _settled, I have a question for you, Harry."

"Ask away," Harry said.

"When are you doing to make a move on Ginny?" She asked it like it was an obvious question, but the reaction was very unusual. Ron spit out his beverage in a surprising mist, and Harry dropped his fork.

"What?" came Harry's strangled reply.

"You heard me, Harry. You've been sweet on her for ages! When are you going to ask her out?"

"He doesn't like her like that," Ron interrupted. Then he paused. "Do you?" He asked Harry.

There was an uncomfortable silence, and Percy wished he could see the look on Harry's face.

"Well, Ron, I've been meaning to tell you…" Harry started.

"Bloody Hell." Ron's voice cracked. "You really had to fall for MY little sister? Geez, Harry!"

"Look, I didn't plan on it! It's not my fault!"

"It's no one's fault, Harry. Ron, you need to calm down. Ginny is a great girl and my best friend, and Harry is a great guy and your best friend," Hermione reminded him sternly. "And he's my other best friend, too," she added. "They would be great together, and if you'd get your head out of your ass you'd see it, too."

"I suppose," Ron grumbled. "But if you hurt her…"

"You'll kill me," Harry finished. "I get it."

"Oh no," Ron corrected. "Death would be too quick. I'll make you suffer for all eternity!"

"Of course you will, Ron," Hermione placated him.

"Do you think she likes me?" Harry asked.

"You'll never know until you ask her to the St. Mungo's ball next Saturday," there was a finality in Hermione's voice. This wasn't a suggestion, and they all knew it.

"I guess I better go, then. I want to make sure she has time to pick out a dress or something."

"Oh! Tell her we'll go shopping together! I have to pick out a dynamite dress, too!" Hermione said.

"Why does your dress need to be dynamite?" Ron asked. "It's only Percy."

There was a scowl in her voice, "Yes, it's _only _my boyfriend, who I care for very much, and it's only _our _first time out as a couple and I'm _only _a war hero who gets a ton of press!" by the end her voice was quite a bit louder than it had started.

"Sorry I said anything," Ron whispered to Harry.

"It's been fun, Hermione, but we have to get back to work," Harry told her. "We'll do lunch again soon, though. I'll let you know what Ginny says."

They all said their goodbyes and the two boys left, leaving Hermione alone at the booth.

"You can join me if you want, Percy."

He was so shocked he forgot to be embarrassed.

He peered around the booth at her. "How did you know I was there?"

"I saw you sit down. Harry and Ron were facing the other way and didn't notice. You were off in your own little world, and I doubt you would've noticed if everyone in the place had started singing and dancing around you." She laughed.

"I probably would've noticed that!" He laughed with her until she stopped and raised an eyebrow. "Well, maybe not."

She smirked.

"I didn't hear everything, but I'm impressed with how you answered their questions and got them believing you," he said.

"It's easy once you change the subject."

He smiled. "You're not going to tell Harry that Ginny's been in love with him since before she went to Hogwarts and has been begging you to give him a shove in her direction?"

She gave an evil grin. "Meh. He has things too easy. Being 'savior of the wizarding world' opens a lot of doors without him realizing it. It's good to have him sweat once in a while."

Percy was almost afraid for Harry and Ginny, with someone like Hermione meddling with them.

They sat in a comfortable silence, Percy was finishing his meal and Hermione was lost in thought and staring at the rest of the restaurant. His thoughts went over what he had just heard, and without thinking, he blurted, "Did you really have a crush on me in school?"

She blushed and bit her bottom lip, in nervousness, he realized later. "Yeah…"

He tried to stop the blush that was forming on his cheeks, but couldn't. "Oh."

"I mean, it was a long time ago, and things are so different now," Hermione launched into an explanation. "It doesn't mean anything, and if this makes things weird we can figure something out," she kept babbling until Percy held his hands up in mock defeat.

"Woah! Calm down! It's not weird! I just thought it was funny. Certainly adds credibility to our…situation."

He tried to be nonchalant about it, but his heart was dropping every second. Of course she didn't feel the same way now. It was silly to think that he would mean anything more than a friend to her.

He smiled gratefully. "Well, I better go and see how Ginny is. I meant what I said about getting a dynamite dress. Watch out Percy Weasley, I'll knock your socks off!"

You already do, he thought sadly.

"I can't wait!" he replied.

…...

Still doesn't belong to me, it's all JKR.

Thank you for reading, now let me know how I'm doing! I love reviews!


	9. Chapter 9

The days leading up to St. Mungo's ball were a relief to Percy. Things were mostly getting back to normal, but with a few differences. He saw Hermione every day that week for lunch, and she made sure to show up a little early to "interrupt" some important meetings that Percy had with his father. Her presence alone gave him more credibility. On Wednesday she was sure to tell Arthur, as well as the heads of many ministry departments who were sitting in a meeting, that Harry had "finally asked Ginny to the ball this weekend!" The head of the Auror department, Frank Littleton, snapped his head up and asked "Harry Potter?" in a cracked voice.

Hermione practically radiated smugness. "Yes, Harry Potter. He's been rather fond of Ginny for some time now. Really he's fond of the whole family, it's the only one he knows." she added with sadness.

Mr. Littleton looked at Arthur, "Really? Well, it's rather good of you to do that for young Mr. Potter. Especially with him being a hero and everything. Sporting of you to step in now."

"Actually, Arthur has been like Harry's father for some time. Ever since our first year at Hogwarts Harry and I have been like family. He accepted us and loved us before we knew who Voldemort was," Hermione corrected.

Percy rolled his eyes, thinking she was laying it on a bit thick, but Frank was eating it up.

He paused for a moment, thinking before saying "Arthur, the Auror department would like to officially support you in your political endeavors. And I hope to see Mr. Potter in some of these meetings. I'm sure he has some thoughts as to how was can be a more effective department," he stood and shook Mr. Weasley's hand.

"That is very kind of you. I can only say that I will do everything to deserve your support," Mr. Weasley shook Frank's hand and nodded.

After the meeting broke up, Arthur shut the door and turned to Hermione.

"What the hell was that? I asked you to stay out of my campaign, and you said you would! I told you I didn't want you or Harry using your popularity to help me and I meant it! I refuse to let you sell yourselves for my benefit!"

"In case you haven't noticed, Harry and I are part of your family! Of course we want to use our popularity to help you win because you would be the best! It's killing us to not be a part of this. And, in case you've gone senile in the last few days, Harry and I will most likely be official Weasleys soon! If you don't allow us to campaign for you, it'll make _us _look bad as well! We don't support the man we call a second father? You're not thinking this through!" She retorted.

"It's statements like that that make me wonder if your relationship with Percy is simply to get me to allow you to campaign for me," he said quietly.

It was Percy who answered, as Hermione had started to sputter angrily. "Father, that was rather hurtful. You think we would do this for a stunt? We really care about each other. And as Hermione said, things are going really well. I can see a future with her, a real honest to goodness future with her. I've never felt this way about anyone else, not even Penny. It's not fair that we have to justify ourselves because it's an inconvenient time for you." Hermione's hand had found his somewhere in his speech, and he squeezed it gently. He wished that what he just said was a cover, but it wasn't. He spoke the truth, and his father relented.

"I'm very sorry Percy, Hermione. I wasn't thinking. I believe I'm under a bit more stress than I realized," he was blushing. "I don't think I've said this yet, but congratulations you two. Molly and I have always thought that you two would work well together. When Hermione started dating Ron, we figured we were wrong, but now I see we were right all along."

He gave Hermione a small hug and Percy a pat on the shoulder before leaving the room.

"You were really good in there. I almost believed you myself," Hermione congratulated him as they were walking to a restaurant for lunch.

"Why thank you. I always thought that maybe my calling was the stage. I mean, if it weren't for all those people watching you. And the whole memorizing lines and spitting them out thing. And the, well…everything. I hate acting!" he was laughing by the end of his speech.

She smiled at him. "Still, it was very convincing."

He just kept walking, working hard on not telling her the truth right there and then to respond.

The weekend before the ball, Hermione and Ginny had gone shopping together, so Percy was sitting at home by himself reading. He found himself missing Hermione, even though he had just seen her yesterday.

"I need to stop this right now. It's only going to hurt worse when it ends," he tried to keep reminding himself, but it was no use. He was so caught up in his thoughts that when Ginny's head popped into his fireplace, he just about screamed like a girl.

"Hi Percy! Did I startle you?" she grinned mischievously.

"Not at all, I'm just reading a scary part of my book," he replied, haughtily. He always turned into what George called "Bighead Percy" to try and cover his embarrassment.

"Riiiiight. I'm supposed to believe that 'A history of muggle London' is a terrifying story?"

He blushed. "It has its moments," he tried to cover.

She laughed at his feeble attempt, "You know I don't fall for your 'bighead Percy' routine anymore."

He sighed resignedly, "I know. Come in."

The rest of her body appeared in the fireplace, followed closely by Hermione.

"And what did I do to deserve two lovely ladies burst into my apartment?" he asked.

"We just finished shopping and thought we'd swing by and drop off my dress. And see if you'd like to grab some dinner with us," without waiting for an answer Hermione breezed past him and towards him room, out of earshot.

Ginny leaned in conspiratorially, "she spent _ages _picking out a dress. Nothing was good enough for Percy," she laughed. "'Would Percy like this one?' 'How about this one?' 'You're his sister, why don't you know more about what he likes?' It was rather annoying!"

He smiled, picturing a distraught Hermione in the dress store. Before he could answer, his "girlfriend" came back to the living room.

"Well? Are you coming?" she asked him.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," he winked at her.

…...

I own nothing, it's all the magical JKR.

Happy Fourth of July! You should celebrate by reading and reviewing!


	10. Chapter 10

The night of the ball was warm and clear. Percy paced his flat, waiting until he could go to the burrow to pick up Hermione. She had opted to get ready with Ginny, like they used to do in their Hogwarts days. She had been so excited for it that she slept over at the Burrow, in the spare bed in Ginny's room. It was the first time in over a week that she'd not stayed with Percy, and try as he might, he couldn't seem to sleep without her. She was so warm and reassuring at night, and last night he had felt more lonely than ever before.

He glared at the clock. It wasn't moving fast enough.

He glanced at his outfit again, making sure that nothing was wrong with his muggle tuxedo. The ball was formal wear, and most of the time he wore dress robes to these sorts of events, but some fool had decided to make the ball "muggle attire only." Percy had smirked when he first read that; many of the old wiarding families would not like it. His father had supported it, of course. It was a way to remind everyone that "muggleborns witches and wizards didn't have to abandon their roots to be a part of the magical world." The fall of Voldemort had changed the way wizards had viewed muggle borns. It wasn't politically correct to believe in pureblood supremacy anymore, so it was slowly dying out. The Death Eaters didn't have much of a leg to stand on once news got out that Voldemort himself had a muggle father.

Percy glanced at the clock once more, and decided that it was ok to be early. He apparated to the Burrow.

He landed outside and walked in the back door. His mother was sitting at the table in the kitchen, absentmindedly smoothing her hair.

"You look wonderful, Mum," Percy kissed the top of her head. She did look lovely. She was in a simple black floor length dress with cap sleeves, and she accented it with black low heel dress shoes. It had a modest swooping neckline and a flowing feel to it. Her hair was down and less frizzy than it normally was. It fell in waves down her back.

"Do you really think so? The girls helped me with my hair and makeup while they did theirs. I think they did a smashing job," Molly smiled.

"Of course they did," he smiled and sat down across from her. "Are they almost done?"

But before Molly could answer, Ginny and Hermione appeared in the doorway.

Ginny was looking radiant in her teal gown. It had off the shoulder cuffs, and gathered with a bow at her waist. The top was all ruching, and the skirt of the dress fell loosely to the floor. It made her eye seem brighter, and her hair darker. She was gorgeous.

But nothing could compare to how his date looked. Hermione was in a strapless midnight blue gown. The top had a sweetheart neckline and was molded to her so well that Percy wondered if she could even breathe. The dress flared out slightly at the waist, allowing her to walk and dance freely in it. It was sparkling as well, and she looked like an angel in it.

His breathe caught in his throat.

"Hermione, you look beautiful," he managed to whisper.

She smiled nervously, "I've never worn anything like this. I feel like it's too much."

"Don't worry about it. You look like royalty in that dress," he said it simply, but inside, his heart was racing. He got to spend the whole evening with her looking like that.

He reached for her hand and brought it up to his lips, kissing it softly.

His mother and sister watched with wistful sighs, bringing him back to his senses.

"You look great, too, Gin," he added after a pause.

"With a reaction like that, I should just go upstairs and change!" she laughed.

"Don't," said a voice behind her. She turned and saw Harry gaping at her. "You look amazing. When did you grow up to be a beautiful woman, Gin?"

"Must have been when you weren't looking," she answered.

He didn't say anything to that, but did offer his arm to her. "I suppose we should be off," he said, and led her outside to appparate.

Percy followed suit and bowed slightly to Hermione. She slipped her arm through his and they left.

St. Mungo's had never looked so grand. The ball was in their "special events room," which meant it was a room that got transfigured to meet the needs of the people using it, and tonight it was an enormous ballroom. Percy practically gaped at the vaulted ceilings, golden chandeliers, and glittering lights. He looked closely at the ceiling and realized that it was charmed like the one at Hogwarts to show the sky. They would be dancing under the stars. Thank goodness it was a clear night.

There was a jazz band setting up in one corner of the room, and a large empty space for dancing. The rest of the room was full of chairs and tables, with some couches parked in darker corners for more private conversations.

The night was all about raising money for the hospital, so the tickets went for a small fortune. Arthur and Molly's Christmas gift to everyone was tickets to this ball, everyone in the room protested, but were dismissed.

"When aunt Milly died, she left us some money. It's ours and we will spend it on our children if we want to!" Molly had said in final sort of way. "You can thank us now if you want to." The Weasley children had laughed and practically tripped over themselves thanking their parents.

Now Percy was especially glad that his parents had insisted they all go. It was going to be a night to remember, he could just feel it.

All the Weasleys were sitting at the same table, so when one person found their names on the place cards, it wasn't long before all of them were seated and talking. It was a large table, it had 10 place settings, and all but the last two were taken up by the family and their dates. Ron and George went dateless, saying that they'd rather be "free men allowed to hunt" or some such nonsense. Charlie, in true form, had run into an old Hogwarts friend the week before who turned out to be a world famous lingerie model, and he'd asked her to come for old time's sake. Her name was Alexandra, and she seemed sort of familiar to Percy. He heard them talking about their years at Hogwarts.

"Do you remember when I accidentally hit that bludger at your face? You almost fell off your broom, but as you were speeding towards the ground you saw the snitch and caught it! We won that game, if I remember correctly," she said"

"Of course you remember that day! It was the first time I asked you out and the first time you said no!" Charlie was laughing. "No one said no to me!"

"That's exactly why I did! You shouldn't always get what you want," she challenged.

"Even now?" he asked, innocently.

"Maybe. I'm not sure how much you've changed over the years," she replied.

A memory stirred in Percy's mind. Alexandra? No, he recalled, everyone called her Alex. She was a bit of a tomboy, but beautiful back then, too. Charlie asked her out almost every week, but she never said yes. Charlie was always talking about her and how she was the "one who got away."

Not anymore, she isn't, Percy thought.

"They look cozy, don't they?" Hermione leaned over and whispered in his ear. "Could it be the end of Charlie the bachelor?"

"I sure hope so," Percy whispered back, he was going to say more, but he got interrupted.

"Dear, our seats are over here!" the whole table looked up to see Mr. Frank Littleton and his wife sitting down. Percy almost choked with laughter at the glare Hermione was receiving from Harry. The Auror department had been practically begging Harry to join them for the past two years, but Harry kept saying no. He needed some time away from thwarting evil, and was going to take time to get his life in order. Now the head of the Auror department was sitting right next to him and had the whole evening to bother him about joining.

"Oh, Mr. Potter! It is lovely to see you again," Frank shook Harry's hand and nodded at Mr. Weasley. "Arthur. How are you? Is this your lovely wife?"

He carried on with the pleasantries as Hermione moaned softly into Percy's ear. "Why did I have to tell him Harry was coming tonight? Harry's going to murder me!"

"Don't forget you also told Frank that Harry was going with Ginny. He must have gotten a hold of the seating chart and put himself next to the boy-who-lived."

Hermione looked horrified at the thought. "You don't really think…"

"Oh I really do," he responded quietly.

"Please don't let me die, Percy," she joked. "I don't want to be killed by the person who's only responsible for one other death and it was the most evil man in the world. 'Who have you rid the world of, Harry?' they'll ask 'Oh, just Voldemort and Hermione Granger, no big deal.' I don't want to be on that list!"

He laughed. "I'll protect you."

She gave him a dazzling smile, "I knew I could count on you!"

They sat back as dinner was served, and didn't get a chance to speak to each other for the rest of the meal.

…...

JKR owns everything and I own nothing!

Is anyone else super excited for the movie?

Thank you for reading, now let me know how I'm doing! Reviews make me deliriously happy!


	11. Chapter 11

As soon as the plates had been cleared, the band began to play. Percy had been looking forward to having Hermione in his arms, and he turned to find her, to ask her to dance. He found her a couple tables away, chatting amiably with a Quibbler reporter. He smiled and went to them.

"It's been a privilege to watch Arthur work. He really cares about every person. I can't think of a better man to lead us through this difficult time." she was saying.

"I couldn't agree more," Percy interrupted. He turned to the reporter. "I hope I'm not being too rude, but I _must _steal her away. She promised me the first dance. And the last dance," he added as an afterthought.

"And all the dances in between," Hermione said as she grinned at him. "See you, Jeremy!"

He lead her to the dance floor, and they began swaying to the music.

"Thanks for that, he was such a bore!" she said.

"No problem. I just wanted to dance with you. Do you know how lovely you look tonight?"

She blushed. "Come on Perce, it's just you and I, you don't have to say things like that…"

"I mean it," he insisted. "As a friend, it is my job to tell you when you look bad, right? To make sure you don't go out in public looking like a fool?"

"Yes," she conceded.

"See, I'm just doing my duty, telling you that you don't look awful," he twirled her around quickly. "I'm a fantastic friend, you know. Everyone says so."

"Oh do they?" she asked, smirking.

"Yes," he stated. "There's not a day that goes by when I'm not complimented on it."

She giggled. "I really am glad to have you around. And I mean that seriously."

He was just about to say something cheeky when Hermione stiffened and she stopped dancing.

"Oh shit," she whispered.

"Hermione? What's wrong? Do you need to sit?" he started to lead her off the dance floor when she grabbed his face with both of her hands and forced him to meet her eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Percy. I didn't mean for this to happen. Not tonight, anyways," her voice was soft, but urgent.

"I don't understand…" he started.

"Please promise me that you won't judge me too harshly on what you're about to find out, and you give me the opportunity to explain myself before you never speak to me again," she had gone very pale as she spoke, and was speaking so quickly that Percy had a hard time understanding her.

"What? Why?"

"Promise!" she insisted, her hands dropping back down to her sides.

"Alright, but what is this about?" he was almost out of his mind with worry. What was going on with her?

"Hermione Granger," said a familiar drawl. "Imagine my surprise when I heard you were shacking up with the Weasel. I say, isn't he the wrong one?" They turned at the new voice and Percy came face to face with Draco Malfoy.

"Malfoy," Hermione spat. "Leave now if you know what's good for you."

"Oh, it's Malfoy now, is it? That's not what you used to scream as you were fucking me," he smirked at her, making Percy's blood boil.

"Hey! You can't talk to her like that!" Percy cried.

Malfoy turned to Percy, "I'd stay out of this if I were you. I don't think you can provide things as rough as she likes it, if you catch my drift."

Percy had never felt anger like this. What was that lying git saying about her? Without thinking, he lunged for him.

"Percy, don't!" Hermione pleaded. She grabbed the back of his suit and pulled him back to her side. "He's not worth it!"

"I'm not worth it? I don't think you'd spend eight months with someone who 'wasn't worth it.' I've missed you, by the way." He was staring at Hermione with a look that could only be described as lust. Percy began to put together the pieces.

"You two…dated? For eight months?" he whispered.

"Please, Percy, let me explain!" Hermione begged.

"Yes, let her explain, mate," Malfoy started.

"I'm not your 'mate,'" Percy barked at him.

Malfoy continued, as if he hadn't been interrupted. "See, I was sitting at home, dealing with my recent break-up when I opened up the paper to see my ex-girlfriend on the front page of the Prophet with you. You did look quite cozy, if I may say so, a smart match," he said, condescendingly. "Then I saw article after article of you two come out. It was a bit humiliating. Your moving on so quickly didn't exactly help my ego," he looked sourly at her. "But then I saw it. Your mistake. One little blurb on how you'd been dating for a few weeks before the first story broke in the Prophet. And that's when I knew. It's all a lie, isn't it?"

Percy stared at him, not moving a muscle.

"It's not a lie," he bit.

"Ah, see, I was wondering if you'd say that, because, if it's not a lie, then that means that our dear Hermione was cheating. On me. With you. We broke up _after _you claimed to have started dating. And I'm sure that she wasn't cheating on me, because the week before we broke up, I took her on a holiday, just the two of us. And we didn't really leave the bedroom, if you catch my drift." he smirked at Percy's heartbroken face. "And that was the week before the story broke. So that means you two are the biggest liars I've ever seen, and that includes my father's…charming friends," his voice dripped with sarcasm. "It's too bad for you that there are all these reporters around. I might just let it slip to one."

"Please, Draco, don't do that," Hermione whispered. Percy couldn't move or speak. He couldn't figure out what to feel first. His rage was rendering him almost catatonic.

"And why not?" Draco retorted. "I just came to tell you that I know all about your little charade. Ah, now I see Jeremy from the Quibbler. Seems like I need to destroy some lives tonight," he said gleefully as he walked away.

Percy and Hermione stared at each other. Her eyes were filled with fear, and his were filled with anger.

"Percy, let me…" she began.

"Stop." He held his hand up and she instantly stopped speaking. "We'll deal with this later. Later," he insisted when she'd opened her mouth again. "I need to warn my father. I'll meet you in my flat in 15 minutes, ok?" He was glaring at her, but his voice never went above a whisper.

"Perce," she begged.

"Later!" he turned and walked away, not waiting for an answer.

He found his father with little difficulty. He was in a crowd of people, all wanting to see how he felt about the "important issues."

"Ah, here he is! You all know my son, Percy. I couldn't be more proud of him, you know. He's doing wonderful work for the ministry, and just recently found a lovely young lady who makes him happy!" Arthur was beaming at him, and Percy felt awful about all the lies he'd told in the past couple weeks.

"Father, I need to speak with you in private," Percy tugged on his arm while turning his attention to the crowd. "It'll only take a moment, I promise! He'll be back soon!" he forced himself to smile, but his father saw how fake it was and followed him to a corner with worry in his eyes.

"Percy, is everything alright? You seem angry."

He didn't even explain what was going on. He found he couldn't voice the truth just yet. "Dad, in the next few minutes you will probably be asked if you knew that the relationship between Hermione and I was a ruse to gain support for you. I don't want to explain why or what is going on, I just wanted to let you know," Percy put up his hand to stop his father from saying anything. "You can talk to John about this, but my recommendation is something along the lines of, 'I don't believe that it's fake, but you should ask them, I suppose.' That should get the reporters off your back until we can figure out how to fix this."

"Was it all a lie?" he asked.

"For her, yes. For me," Percy sighed. "No. It wasn't, but I promise to explain everything later, I just have to talk to her right now."

His father nodded. "Go. I'll sort it out here. You two left because of 'hurtful rumors' or something like that. I'll see you tomorrow for brunch?"

"Of course, dad. I'll see you tomorrow," and with that, Percy left the building. Fighting the feeling of dread that was spreading throughout him, he apparated into the living room of his apartment.

…...

I own nothing, though I'm having fun taking JKR's characters out for a spin.

Please read and review! Thank you!


	12. Chapter 12

He appeared in his living room with a loud pop. He saw Hermione sitting on the couch, crying. Her head shot up when she heard him, and she tried to wipe the tears from her eyes. They stared at each other for a moment, unblinking, unmoving. Percy turned on his heel and walked to his room.

"Are you coming? I thought you wanted to explain," he snapped at her.

She got up and followed him silently. He shut the door to his room and took his time putting up silencing charms, trying to give himself a moment to get his temper under control. He had never been more angry at anyone in his whole life.

"Percy, I know that you're angry at me, but please hear me out," she begged when he finished.

He nodded for her to continue, not trusting his voice.

"I don't know where to start," she began, haltingly. "It was such a bad idea to get involved with him, I _knew _it was, but I didn't…I mean, I didn't…" she took a deep breath and started over. "I met Draco for the first time since Hogwarts about 8 months ago. I was horribly drunk, it was some 'girls night' that Ginny had dragged me to, and I decided to get absolutely plastered. He literally ran into me, almost knocking me over, and offered to buy me a drink to make up for it. We chatted for a long time until we went back to his place," she looked and Percy guiltily. "It was just supposed to be a one night stand, though that's not much of a defense, I realize. But then I ran into him a week later and it happened again. Before I realized it, we were meeting regularly once or twice a week. It was nothing to me, not even a relationship, just…friends with benefits, I suppose," she sniffed loudly. "And that was enough for me. We kept it secret, no one knew besides us, and I liked it that way. It was my own personal rebellion from all the responsibility that I had."

She looked down at the floor before she spoke again. "Things started to go downhill when he wanted to see me more often and make our 'relationship' public. He kept saying that he had feelings for me, that he wanted to take me on a date, a real date," she shook her head, "but I didn't want that. We fought about it all the time, and I finally relented when he begged me to go away for a week with him and try it out, give 'us' a chance. He said that if I didn't change my mind after that, that he would back off."

Percy's mind was reeling. A one night stand? Friends with benefits? His anger was radiating off him as she spoke, and it took every ounce of control in him to not run off and beat the crap out of Malfoy. How could she be with him? He was furious with Hermione, _at _Hermione, but he couldn't even process that right now. He just stood there in stony silence as she finished her story.

"So I went with him. It was nice for a while, but my mind was made up. On the last night, the shit hit the fan. I overheard a floo conversation he was having with the VP of his company. Malfoy said that he'd almost convinced me to go public with him, and how they could expect a 15% increase in profits from having my name associated with his," she scowled as she remembered.

"I was so furious that I started packing immediately. He came into our room and asked why I was leaving. I screamed at him for using me, whoring me out for _his _profit," she spat bitterly. "It was the worst fight I've ever had. He was yelling at me, telling me that he only used me for a quick shag, and was going to leave me at that, but when he saw the potential for making more money, he exploited it." she laughed harshly. "Trust me, Percy, it was a feeble attempt to save his ego. Yes, he wanted the money I would generate, but he also cared about me. In the end, it was that combination that caused me to grab my suitcase and run out of the hotel."

She looked at him. "I've never made a worse mistake, I know getting involved with him was a disaster. I was using him, and he was using me. It all went wrong very quickly. I'm not heartbroken over this, I'm not doubting my self-worth, I don't want to go back to him. I saw that he was right about my popularity, and I wanted to help Arthur and your family so badly, that I ran with this harebrained idea before I had thought about Malfoy and our timeline. And I'm dreadfully sorry about that," she caught his eyes and held them. "I'm so so so sorry, Percy. This is all my fault, and I will make this right. We'll figure something out so that it doesn't hurt your father."

That shook him out of his stupor. "My father?" he asked without feeling. "Of course you're worried about him." He snorted and shook his head with anger.

"Of course I am, this is not going to look good for him."

"And what about me?" he demanded. "Are you going to worry about me?"

"I don't understand, we're not actually dating, why are you getting so angry?" she asked.

"Because I wanted this to be real!" he roared, totally losing control for the first time in his life. "Because I found that the more time I spent with you, the more I want to be with you. You're the only thing that matters to me right now," he allowed his emotions to pour out of him.

"Do you have _any _idea what you do to me?" he continued. "I've never felt like this before, you're all I can think about. I can't even sleep when you're not around! Every time I'm with you, my heart is racing and I can hardly keep my wits about me," he shook with anger and desire. His hands were balled into fists, his breathing labored.

"You told me I was 'so good' at acting, but it was never an act. I've wanted to be with you since we were kids and I suppose I was delusional to think that you could ever want to be with me. I'm so fucking stupid to think that you would ever be with me," he narrowed his eyes at her.

"Percy," she whispered. He couldn't take it anymore, and he couldn't listen to her rejecting him. Without thinking, he strode up to her with two large steps and jammed his lips on hers. The reaction was instantaneous, she moaned his name, and opened her mouth to allow his tongue access. He shoved her against the wall and ran his hands all over her body. She kept moaning into him and he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Their tongues were vying for dominance when he felt her hands push his jacket and tie off, and start undoing the buttons of his shirt. His hands moved to the back of her dress and with one move he unzipped it and pushed it towards the floor. He didn't even have time to admire her in only her matching black lace bra and panties, as his shirt was being forced off his torso and her now freed legs were wrapping around his body.

He moaned loudly and rubbed his impossibly hard member against her wet knickers. She screamed in frustration and began to claw his back with her nails. He took a step away from the wall, supporting all of her weight and threw her on the bed. The loss of contact made her whimper and in a moment he was on her again. Her hands ran through his hair while he was rubbing her breasts. She left his swollen mouth to trail searing kissing down his neck and chest. He flipped them around so that she was on top, and snaked his hands around her back to unclasp her bra.

Percy took no time to appreciate the gorgeous sight in front of him. He was acting on pure instinct and desire. He took one nipple in his mouth and teased it with his tongue. Hermione groaned and she pushed against him even more. His mouth was moving again, making her other nipple hard, and his hands moved lower, to her waist.

Her small hands were making quick work of his trousers, undoing the belt and button with ease. She slid the zipper down and rubbed her hand against his arousal, moving back and forth with a rhythm that made his moan with pleasure. She ripped the rest of his trousers off and had slipped her hand into his boxers. He grunted with desire, and squirmed under her talented ministrations. He thrust with her hand, so close to cumming that he was afraid he would erupt in that moment. He didn't want that, so with a smirk, he flipped her back over. Now on top, he pulled her knickers off. Her legs parted immediately and he plunged his finger into her. She gasped for breath and arched against him, bucking slightly as he flicked her sensitive nub.

"I need you now!" she grunted.

Suddenly he felt as if someone had tossed cold water on him. He instantly scrambled away from her, struggling to release himself from her grasp. He couldn't do this. He didn't want her if she didn't care about him. He wasn't going to be some random shag, like Malfoy. Desire gave way to anger again, and he felt the fury pulse through him. His head was roaring, and he felt slightly nauseous at the loss of control he just had.

"No! No, no, no!" he panted to her shocked face. "I'm leaving. Tonight. Now." he tore at the clothes in his closet, grabbing the first things his hand touched. "Leave me alone. I can't…" he couldn't finish his thought, let alone his sentence. He ran into the bathroom and threw his clothes on. He burst back into his bedroom to grab his wand. Hermione hadn't moved from her spot on the bed, she was just staring at him as if he'd slapped her.

He snatched his wand off his dresser and stormed out.

…..

I own nothing, it's all JKR.

I've never written anything like this, please let me know what you think! Thank you for reading!


	13. Chapter 13

Percy had apparated to the first place he had thought of, The Leaky Caldron. He stood outside the front door, staring into the window, completely devoid of emotion. He felt more tired than anything else. He had left in such a hurry that he had managed to grab clothes, barely, but nothing else. He wasn't even wearing socks.

He sank onto a nearby bench and wondered what he could do. He didn't have any money, and he certainly wasn't going back home to get some. He didn't want to answer any questions, so the Burrow was out; his office was locked up tight for the weekend; and he didn't fancy getting made fun of, so George's flat was out. He knew in reality that all of his family would be understanding, but he found that he couldn't face anyone. Not tonight.

A thought occurred to him as he was transfiguring a tissue he found in his pocket into a coat.

Muggle London.

It was the best bet. He could transfigure money, and stay there the night. His family would never think to look there, and Hermione wouldn't know where he was, either. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. He picked up a few rocks from the ground, turned them into muggle pounds and shoved it into his pocket. Without looking at anyone, he strode through the Leaky Caldron and out into London.

He found a small hotel a few blocks away. He paid for one night, determined to move farther away from Diagon Alley if he decided to stay longer. The clerk at the front desk had not given Percy a second look as she handed him his room key.

It was a small room, one bed with a tacky comforter, a black box with an antenna and buttons on it past the foot of the bed, and a tiny bathroom right next to the hall door. Without changing his clothes, he fell onto the bed and fell asleep instantly.

A loud knock woke him the next morning.

"Housekeeping!"

"Go away!" he shouted, grabbing a pillow and holding it over his ears. They must have heard him because the knocking stopped. He groaned angrily and slammed his fist into the bed next to him. It was no use. He was awake.

He rolled over on his back and inhaled deeply; he still smelled like her. It was a combination of fancy perfume from the night before, earth and roses. He couldn't think while he still smelled like her, and stumbled out of bed to take a shower. He managed to get shampoo in both his eyes, scrub his body with conditioner, and wash his hair with soap, but at least he was clean.

Once he was back in his clothes, Percy sat on the bed. He was at a loss of what to do. He needed to deal with his anger and what he was feeling, but he couldn't. He paced around his room in a daze, he couldn't focus on last night's events. His thoughts raced and finally landed on one thing: he needed to get out of this hotel and find a plan. He was too close to the wizard community, but was practically an alien in muggle London. The only real time he'd been there was with Hermione, and just thinking about that day made is heart hurt.

He waved feebly at the front desk clerk and left his room key on the counter. He opened the front door and blinked at the bright sun. He didn't know where to go first, so he arbitrarily chose right. He saw a small bookstore down the block and rushed inside. Any decent bookstore would have a tourist's guide to London, and that was exactly what he felt like. He bought it with some of his transfigured muggle money and took it outside, flipping through the pages. He found a small sandwich shop down the road and stopped for lunch and a quiet place to read his guide.

He read it cover to cover. It explained all the muggle things that London had, because it was designed for someone who had never been there before. Percy was practically a stranger in his own backyard, but he at least he felt competent with his tour guide. It never ceased to amaze him what muggles could do. He found out how to navigate the city with public transportation, what hotels were the best in the city, and where he could sit and gather his thoughts.

He bought a week-long oyster card and got on the underground with no real destination in mind. He ended up at Hyde Park Corner station. He went above ground and meandered through the vast park. When he felt he could no longer avoid his emotions, he sat on the nearest bench and held his head in his hands.

Why did Hermione's past…entanglement with Malfoy cause him to be so angry at her? The question bounced around in his head until he mentally yelled at it.

I'm hurt! This realization stung him. I can't be with her, but _he _can? That's not fair! I love her and he treated her like she was nothing!

He audibly gasped. I love her? No. That can't be. It's too soon. We've only been "together" two weeks! He forced that thought aside and tried to work out his feelings again. I can't picture him with her without wanting to wring my hands around his scrawny neck. I can't think about her _wanting _to be with him, because it makes me want to jump off a bridge.

So that's it, is it? He thought, Simple jealousy? But why am I so angry?

He rolled the thought around in his mind, to no avail.

He tried to lay out the facts as he saw them. He cared for her, maybe loved her, if he was being honest with himself; he felt horrible jealousy at her being with another man, but especially with one who had treated her like dirt all her years at Hogwarts; and he was angry that she decided to be with him. Why was she with someone who treated her so badly?

His anger twitched at that thought, and realization hit him. He was angry at her for being with someone who had caused her so much anguish in the past. He thought she was selling herself short by being with Malfoy. She was settling for the person in front of her instead of waiting for the right man to come along.

One thing that was abundantly clear was how much he missed her. He missed her laugh, how she would explain every muggle thing he asked about, how her dimples showed only when she was annoyed, how she would reach out and grab his hands to sooth him. He hated how much he noticed about her, how much he knew about her, how she didn't need to speak for him to know what she was feeling.

He sat on the bench, mulling this over when out of the corner of his eye he saw a person sit beside him on his bench. He was about to say something rude to get them to leave when he realized he knew this person. It was Charlie.

"You missed brunch," he stated quietly, breaking into Percy's thoughts.

"Yes," he paused for a while. "How did you find me?"

"I've been perfecting my own locator spell recently, and I decided to try it out today," he said with a shrug. "Don't worry, I didn't tell anyone that I'd found you, and I'm not going to try and drag you back."

"Why not?" he didn't understand why Charlie would find him, only to leave him alone again.

"Because I'm the only one who knows the truth about you and Hermione." His words hit Percy like a blow to the head.

"What?" he struggled out.

"I knew all along that it was about her supporting dad. I kept my mouth shut because you've been in love with her for years but never had the courage to do anything about it. I thought this would be an interesting way to see you two together," Charlie sighed and gazed out into the park. "I live with you, Perce. I knew you were sitting at home all alone those few weeks you said you were dating. And that first brunch, I went up before Ginny to tell you everyone had arrived, but I overheard your conversation instead."

Percy blushed. "You didn't tell anyone, though." It wasn't a question.

Charlie shook his head, "No. Not any of my business, really."

They sat in silence, both lost in thought. Charlie broke the silence first.

"Look, I know you probably don't want this, but she did want me to give this to you. Seems to think you're hiding in your flat, avoiding her." There was no need to say who he was talking about. "I didn't tell her anything, just that I'd try to get it to you," he pulled a sealed envelope out of his coat pocket. "I think you should read it, just in case it says something important."

Percy took the envelope wordlessly. He looked at her neat writing, addressing it to him, and he felt an ache in his heart. He looked sadly at it for a moment, and shoved it in his pocket.

"I told you I wasn't here to bring you back, and I'm not, but I did want to give you two pieces of advice. One, let mum know you're alright. She wanted to contact the Auror department and have a manhunt for you. And two, take all the time you need, but don't forget to come back. We love you, even George, and missed you today," he gave a small smile, which Percy returned. Finished saying what he same to say, Charlie squeezed Percy's shoulder as a sort of goodbye, and walked away.

Percy sat on the bench, immobile, until he shivered. Sometime, when he wasn't paying attention, it got dark and cold. He stood stiffly and stretched his aching limbs, groaning softly as they cracked. He recalled a hotel that sounded sort of nice near the garden, so he set out for it, deciding some sleep might help his aching heart.

…...

I own nothing, it's JKR's, I just borrowed the characters.

Thank you for reading! There are only two more chapters to go! Please let me know what you think!


	14. Chapter 14

Percy didn't sleep well that night. Before he went to bed, he had charmed a note to appear on his supervisor's desk, asking for the next two days off. He didn't bother waiting for an answer, it was the first vacation time he'd ever requested in his five years working there. He hardly thought his boss would say no.

When he had entered his new hotel room, he had set Hermione's letter on his nightstand, which was a huge mistake. Every time he tossed and turned he caught a glimpse of it. He had stared at it, still unwilling to open it, and it had haunted him all night. He couldn't face it yet, face_ her _yet, so when he woke up, he tried to avoid it for the rest of the day.

He spent time not thinking about her and her letter in the National Gallery. He saw more muggle paintings there than he ever dreamed existed. It was breathtaking. His favorite was one of a garden of water lilies and a bridge over them. It was painted by a man named Monet. The colors were so beautiful that he stood in front of the painting for over a quarter of an hour, soaking it up.

He spent time not thinking about her and her letter in Trafalgar Square, right out the front door of the National Gallery. He sat by one fountain and watched tourist climb onto the platform where the lion statues were to get their photos taken. He watched people flow in and out of what he remembered his tour guide calling St. Martin in the fields church.

He even walked over the Millennium bridge and spent time not thinking about her and her letter in Shakespeare's Globe theater. His avoidance was impressive, even by his standards. When he felt like he could face it, he bought a little more time by trudging across the bridge again to sit in the quiet courtyard of St. Paul's cathedral. He turned the letter over in his hands, and found he was shaking. He didn't know why, he didn't even know why he had avoided this meaningless thing all day, but there he was, stalling.

He finally ripped it open in one swift movement and started to read.

My dearest Percy,

It's very, very early Sunday morning and I can't sleep. I know that is little consolation to you, but I can't sleep. I miss you. I realized, as I was replaying our fight in my head that I never said the most important thing I discovered while pretending to be with you. It turns out I wasn't pretending either. You know I liked you when we were in school together, but what you don't know is that I never stopped liking you. I tried to get you out of my mind by seeing other guys and things like that, but I've loved you for a very long time now.

I love you.

How silly is that? We've only just begun to spend time together, but I've been in love with you for ages. You're the most amazing man I've ever met, Perce. You're gorgeous, smart, funny, and I feel so at peace with you. You are like coming home after a long, hard day. I know I screwed things up by not telling you about Malfoy, and I know I screwed things up by getting us involved in a fake relationship. The truth was, I didn't think you'd agree to go out with me, and I used the opportunity to sort of trick you into spending time with me. I never really thought that you cared about me, too, until you told me last night. I literally felt my heart leap out of my chest when you said that you wanted a real relationship with me.

I know that I've probably messed things up too badly for you to ever want to be with me, but I miss you terribly. The truth is, I want a future with you. If you can see one with me, too, please come and tell me.

Forever yours,

Hermione

He read the letter four times before realizing that she was serious. He looked up at the looming church.

He remembered Hermione telling him about St. Paul's. Her mother had brought her here when she was very young, no more than 7 or 8. Hermione had been determined to climb into the dome, so the two of them went up. It was 528 steps to the top, she had counted as they ascended, and she had insisted that she could climb them all by herself. When they finally made it to the top, she walked out onto the balcony, and screamed. She thought she was going to plummet to her death right then and there. Her mother had bundled the small girl into her arms and carried her down, while Hermione whimpered against her.

He wished he had been there, had comforted her and made her feel safe. He wanted to make sure she was safe for the rest of her life and that no one could hurt her.

He blinked at that thought. Do I? He asked himself. The ache in his chest deepened, and he realized that he didn't want to waste another moment without her. He rushed into a darkened alley and apparated to her flat.

He knocked on her door immediately, so he wouldn't chicken out and run away again.

Hermione opened the door slowly, peering out to see who it was. She looked beautiful. Her hair was pulled back in a messy bun, she was wearing pajamas, and her feet were bare. She was audibly gasped when she saw it was him, and gaped at him until he asked to come in.

"Of course, Percy, please come in," she opened the door farther and ushered him in, shutting the door behind him. She seemed too shocked at his presence to speak, so Percy started. He held up her letter.

"Did you mean what you said?" he asked.

She nodded, her eyes searching his.

"Can you see a future with me?" his voice was soft.

She nodded again.

"Do you really love me?" he whispered, afraid of the answer.

Hermione nodded, and whispered back, "Yes."

Percy burst into a wide grin that was mirrored by Hermione. Without saying anything else, he ran to her and gathered her in his arms.

He was speaking again, burying his head into her hair, "I love you, too. I've loved you for so long…" he kept repeating. He felt her cry into his chest.

"When you left, you took a piece of me, and I was so afraid I'd never get it back!" she cried.

"I'm here," he soothed. "I'm never leaving. I'm here."

They held each other until all her tears were gone and she was nuzzling his chest. He stepped back to turn her chin up and kissed her with all the love he possessed. It was so tender and loving that she sighed against him, and he wrapped his arms around her again.

…...

I still own nothing, it's all JKR's.

Thank you for reading, please shoot me a review and let me know what you think!


	15. Chapter 15

The wedding was beautiful. The groom gazed at the venue with a dazed look on his face, and when the bride came out, his breath caught in his throat. She was gorgeous. Her strapless gown fit her small frame perfectly, and the sweetheart neckline reminded Percy of another dress he loved.

Ginny leaned over to the person on her right. "Do you think that'll ever be us?" she whispered.

"I sure hope so," Hermione murmured, locking eyes with the best man and giving him a wink. Percy grinned back at her, knowingly, and turned his attention to Alex and Charlie, who were standing in front of the minister.

It had been six months since the ball at St. Mungo's, and the Weasley family was celebrating. Charlie had asked Alex to marry him the night Arthur got elected Minister of Magic. Instead of having a big, huge ministry wedding, they decided to get married one month later, in the backyard of the burrow. It was a small, simple, and beautiful wedding.

Percy had been honored and a bit surprised when Charlie asked him to be best man.

"Really? Not Bill? Not George?" he asked.

"No, stupid, you! You know we've gotten really close from living together, and I want you standing up with me that day!" Charlie smiled. "Plus, all the rest of our brothers will be groomsmen, so they can't really complain, can they?"

Percy had laughed and accepted on one condition, "When I plan your bachelor party, I will _not _be asking Sugar for an encore presentation!"

The wedding was quite similar to Bill and Fleur's, there was a large, white tent for the reception, though the wedding was held outside, under Charlie's favorite tree. He had dipped Alex for their first kiss as man and wife, causing a ripple of laughter in the crowd.

After the wedding, Percy found Hermione chatting with Harry and Ginny, in the deserted seats of the ceremony. He strode up to her and kissed her sweetly, getting a brief rush when he did so. It hadn't mattered that they had been dating for a while now, he still got butterflies when she was around. She smiled at him.

"You look ridiculously handsome," she told him.

"Do I? You know, I remember someone telling me that this morning…" he joked.

She grinned. "I know, I know, if I keep going on you'll get a big head."

He pretended to be hurt, "I don't have a big head!"

"Riiiight," she laughed.

Ginny and Harry stood up. "I suppose we'll go in now, see you at the reception, yeah?" he asked.

"Of course. I'm just enjoying the fresh air," Hermione waved them away. "We'll be in in a minute."

As soon as Harry and Ginny disappeared into the tent, Hermione jumped on Percy, kissing him fiercely.

"I thought they'd never leave!" she whispered, letting her arms drift to the top of his pants, where she slid a finger around the waistband.

"Geez, Hermione! We can't do that now! You already made me late this morning doing that!" he laughed.

"It's not my fault that you look so damn sexy in your tux!" she pouted. "I just couldn't help myself."

"Oh, and I can?" he scoffed. "Your sundress is so short I would be able to leave it on and still have my way with you."

"Don't suggest things like that if you can't follow through!" she bit his lip lightly and pulled away. "Ugh! You're right, _of course_. Let's go in before I change my mind."

As they walked, he put his arm around her and leaned in, "I suppose we could always leave early…" he suggested.

Her eyes lit up. "I have a headache!" she cried, clutching her head dramatically.

"Not _this _early!" he laughed, pulling her hand away.

"Fine," she sulked. "I will get a headache later."

"That's my girl!" he laughed and she tilted her head up for a kiss.

They slowly walked into the tent. It looked much like St. Mungo's on the night of the ball, the dance floor and band were in one corner, and the rest of the room was covered with tables.

"There you are! It's time to cut the cake!" Molly called over her shoulder as she rushed past them.

They moved with the crowd to get a better look as Alex shoved her piece of cake onto Charlie's face, spreading it around. Percy and Hermione giggled with the rest of the crowd. Charlie laughed loudly and pulled her in for a kiss, smearing the cake from his face onto hers. She made a face and grabbed the handkerchief from his pocket to wipe away the offending dessert. She checked her dress quickly, to make sure none had fallen on it, and then punched Charlie on the shoulder, murmuring "Git."

After Charlie and Alex had their first dance as a married couple, everyone packed onto the dance floor. Percy held out his hand for Hermione and twirled her into him.

"Hey, you," he whispered.

"Hey, you," she replied.

"I have something to ask you…" he started, but was cut off.

"Oh my gosh! Harry's on one knee! I think he's proposing!" Hermione cried.

Damn you, Harry Potter! Percy thought. Of course you would get the same idea as me!

He turned his eyes to the scene in front of his as a crying Ginny nodded and knelt to the floor, pulling Harry into a big hug and kiss. He slipped a ring on her finger, and they kissed again. Everyone around them started clapping, and Ginny ran over to Hermione.

"Oh my gosh! I'm getting married!" she shrieked. "Hermione, will you be my maid of honor?"

"Of course, Ginny!" she cried. They squealed together and started jumping up and down. Percy had never seen either be so…girly. He glanced at Harry, who had moved and was standing right next to him.

"Thanks for stealing my idea," Percy grumbled.

Harry turned to him with a shocked expression. "What?"

Percy briefly took out the ring box that was in his pocket before hiding it again. He was about the explain more when a voice jerked him from his thoughts.

"What was that?" Hermione's eyes were wide and she was gaping at Percy.

"Umm, you saw that?" Percy stalled, his mind racing. Crap, he thought. What do I do?

"Yes I saw that! What was it?" she demanded.

"Well, you know how I wanted to ask you something?" Percy hesitated as the whole crowd was watching them and their exchange. His mother looked like she was going to burst into tears of happiness and his father had never looked more proud. Charlie was grinning, and gave him a small thumbs up as encouragement.

Percy launched into his well-rehearsed speech. "Hermione Granger, you are the best thing that has ever happened to my life. You are the reason I get up in the morning, and you're the reason I have so much love in my life. I have been in love with you since we were in Hogwarts together, and even now I can't imagine living my life without you. Will you do me the honor of being my wife?" He pulled out the ring box from his trouser pocket and opened it. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was hanging open. She darted her gaze from the ring to his face, as if trying to figure out if she was imagining things. "Will you marry me?" he finished.

"Yes!" she cried. "Yes, yes, yes!"

The guests around them started cheering, and Percy stood and engulfed Hermione in a hug. She clung to him so tightly he couldn't breathe. He pulled back just enough to take the ring out of the box and slip it on her finger. Still wrapped in his arms, she turned to Ginny with a smile on her

"Hey Gin, will you be my maid of honor?"

The two girls hugged and shrieked again, causing Harry and Percy to wince with pain.

"Did you know they could be so loud?" Percy asked Harry.

"Not at all," he replied. "Think if we take the rings back, they'll calm down?"

"I will physically hurt you if you try," Ginny commented.

"Me too," Hermione added.

The two couples got hugs and kisses from the whole family, and congratulations from everyone else. Charlie and Alex flew away on his broom soon after, and party broke up quickly after their departure. Soon it was just Harry and Ginny dancing alone in the large dance floor, and Percy and Hermione sitting together on a bench in the reception tent.

"I love you, Percy," Hermione told him. "This is the happiest day of my life."

"Maybe for now, it is," Percy replied. "I intend to give you happier ones. I do have the rest of our lives to do it."

She smiled at him. "Say it again, please."

"What? I'll make you happy for the rest of our lives?"

"Yes," she sighed happily.

"Hermione," he whispered in her ear. "I'll make you happy for the rest of our lives."

…...

It's over! I can't believe I finished this story in about a week and a half. I really enjoyed writing it, and I hope you all enjoyed reading it. This was my first ever fan fiction, and I have to say I'm pretty proud of it. I already have another one in mind, and will (hopefully) be posting it soon-ish.

As always, thank you for reading! And thank you for reviewing! I love hearing what you think!

And also, just so I can CMA, I own nothing, this is all the lovely and brilliant JKR.


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